Gold is a seemingly magical substance. Virtually impervious to corrosion, this most malleable of metals can be made to flow, to fold, to be pounded into sheets as thin as foil. It can be shaped and pierced, made solid or hollow, cast to replicate any form the goldsmith desires. Perhaps the most magical technique of all is granulation—affixing patterns of tiny gold balls onto a gold surface. It was practiced in ancient Mesopotamia and Minoan Crete, but then became a lost art, not to be revived in Europe until the 19th century. (Brilliant examples do, however, survive from Tang-dynasty China and fifth–sixth century Korea, and in medieval Russia, the technique of granulation was used on silver.) Then, astonishingly, the technique was lost again. In the late 20th century craftsmen rediscovered granulation once and for all, which is practiced today by a select coterie of jewelers. READ MORE